The Law & Society Association’s Dissertation Prize is awarded annually for the dissertation that best represents outstanding work in law and society. The 2018 winner is Amanda Hughett, a postdoctoral fellow at SUNY-Buffalo’s Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, for “Silencing the Cell Block: The Making of Modern Prison Policy in North Carolina and the Nation.” Hughett received her PhD in History from Duke in 2017. read more about Amanda Hughett wins the Law & Society Association’s Dissertation Prize »
Tim Tyson, a Duke History Ph.D. and faculty member at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, has been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for 2018 for The Blood of Emmett Till. read more about Tim Tyson receives the Robert D. Kennedy Book Award for 2018 »
The James Willard Hurst Prize is awarded annually for the best work in sociolegal history - broadly defined - published in the previous year. The 2018 winner of the Hurst Prize is Professor Farhad Bishara, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia, for A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950 (Cambridge University Press 2017). Bishara received his PhD in History from Duke in 2012. read more about Fahad Bisara wins the James Willard Hurst Prize »
The following students are this year's recipients of the Anne Frior Scott Award. This award is given to help undergraduate and graduate students engaged in research in women's history. Eladio Bobadilla History - 5th Year Advisor: MacLean One People Without Borders: The Lost Roots of the Immigrants' Rights Movement, 1954-1994 Aaron Colston History - 4th Year Advisor: Deutsch Read the Word, Change the World: The Politics of Literacy in the US and Brazil, 1945-1970 Bryce Gessell Philosophy - 4th Year Advisor: Janiak… read more about 2018 Anne Firor Scott Award Winners »
Adam Mestyan's article "Was Cairo's grand opera house a tool of cultural imperialism?" is featured in Aeon. Photo courtesy Wikipedia read more about Adam Mestyan's article featured in Aeon »
Nancy MacLean's most recent book, Democracy in Chains has been awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Award for 2017 for Current Interest. read more about MacLean's "Democracy in Chains" wins LA Times Book Award »
James Chappel's new book, Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church, has been published by Harvard University Press. read more about Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church »
Edward J. Balleisen, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of History and Public Policy, received two scholarly recognitions at the 2018 annual meeting Business History Conference (BHC), held in Baltimore. Balleisen’s Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff (Princeton University Press, 2017), received the Ralph Gomory Book Prize, awarded annually to a volume that demonstrates “the effects of business enterprises on the economic conditions of the countries in which they operate.” The prize… read more about Ed Balleisen wins awards at the Business History Conference »
The Latin American Studies Association’s nineteenth-century section awarded former Ph.D. student, Corinna Zeltsman, a prize for the best dissertation, “Ink under the Fingernails: Making Print in Nineteenth-Century Mexico City”. read more about Corinna Zeltsman wins prize for her dissertation »
Southern Poverty Law Center’s HATEWATCH recently posted an interview of Nancy MacLean on "Democracy in Chains." You can read the full interview here. read more about "Democracy in Chains: An interview with author Nancy MacLean" »
Both, Bill Chafe and Sy Mauskopf, are featured in The Chronicle's "Dear Old Duke" Series. Prof. Chafe (Left: Oct. 10, 1984, by Tammi Henkin | Right: Feb. 12, 2018, by Bre Bradham ) Prof. Mauskopf (Left: Oct. 2, 1977, by Steve Hunt | Right: Feb. 6, 2018, by Bre Bradham) read more about "Dear Old Duke: The Social Scientists" »
The February 2018 issue of Perspectives features, Ph.D. candidate, Eliado Bobadilla's article "No Time Like the Present: AHA18 and Life under Trump". Photograph by Marc Monaghan read more about Eladio Bobadilla article is featured in "Perspectives" »
Professor Simon Partner's new book, "The Merchant's Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan" has been published by Columbia University Press. read more about The Merchant’s Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan »
Jocelyn Olcott's International Women’s Year: The Greatest Consciousness-Raising Event in History has been awarded honorable mention by the 2018 Bryce Wood Book Award Committee of the Latin American Studies Association . read more about Jocelyn Olcott's INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S YEAR receives award »
In a blog post published by AHA Today, entitled “Research-Oriented: Translating a History PhD into a Successful Career at a Think Tank,” Ashton Merck offers insights from a panel she attended at the 2018 American Historical Association Annual Meeting. In addition to lessons learned about the prospects of historians working at think tanks, the piece offers a broader reflection on the state of career diversity initiatives for doctoral students, and the similarities and differences between the academic and non-… read more about Ashton Merck writes on career diversity for AHA Today »
Adam Mestyan discusses his recent book, Arab Patriotism, in podcast on newbooksnetwork.com. read more about Adam Mestyan discusses new book in podcast »
Ph.D. candidate, Ashton Merck discussed her participation in Bass Connections at this year's annual AHA meeting. Her presentation is featured in the article, "The History Ph.D.: Beyond ‘Alt-Ac’". read more about Ashton Merck featured in "Inside Higher Ed" »
Bill Chafe writes, "A chasm grows between the very rich and the rest" in the N&O. read more about Bill Chafe op-ed "A chasm grows between the very rich and the rest" »
Read Nancy MacLean's recent op-ed, "The GOP tax bill could kill two birds with one stone" here. read more about Nancy MacLean writes op-ed in The Hill »
This article deals with the surprising unanimous 2012 decision to uphold racial quotas in Brazil's public universities. It argues that "the decision’s unanimity came from a constellation of metaphors and constitutional philosophies. These metaphors and philosophies, at times in tension, coalesced to form a coherent defense of protected identity classes and the state’s duty to protect them." Each vote relied on theories of the "right to difference" and drew heavily on gender theory and gender affirmative action case law,… read more about Travis Knoll writes article on the Braziliam Supreme Court »
Nancy Maclean's Democracy in Chains selected as the most valuable book of 2017 by The Nation. read more about Nancy Maclean's "Democracy in Chains" most valuable book of 2017 »
Robert Franco, Gray Kidd and James Neely, History PhD students, were awarded the Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grant. Five students total were chosen for the grant this year. read more about Three History Students Awarded the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grant »
Prof. Ed Balleisen and Jon Free, along with the Bass Connection project team, Regulatory Disaster Scene Investigation, contributed to the book, "Policy Shock". Jon, a history PhD student, is one of four graduate members of the team. The team also consists of five faculty members and one undergraduate student. read more about History faculty and PhD student contribute to book POLICY SHOCK »
Nancy MacLean's Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America was awarded the 2017 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Read more about the award here. read more about Nancy MacLean's DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS receives another award »
Gabrielle Stewart, a classical languages major, history minor and Benjamin N. Duke Scholar has been named a Rhodes Scholar. Read more about Gabrielle here. Photo credit: Duke Chronicle read more about History minor, Gabrielle Stewart, named Rhodes Scholar »
PhD Candidate Gray F. Kidd has been featured in a video produced by The Graduate School on collaborative, interdisciplinary research. A 2016-2017 field leader for the Bass Connections team The Cost of Opportunity: Higher Education and Social Mobility in the Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Kidd reflects on how working with Duke undergraduates and faculty enabled his dissertation project to achieve new levels of clarity. The video is available at https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/news/video-how-bass-connections-helped-my-… read more about Kidd Featured in Video on Dissertation Research, Duke Bass Connections »
Duke Magazine recently featured Ashley Rose Young's work with the American Food History Project at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. The article, "Ph.Ds are Defining Success in a New Way," can be found here. Young interned with the American Food History Project this summer with the support of the Versatile Humanists at Duke Internship Program. In that position, she began co-curating the refresh of the exhibition, FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2015. Young also… read more about Ashley Rose Young Joins Smithsonian as Historian of American Food History Project »
Five Books to Make You Less Stupid About the Civil War read more about Thavolia Glymph's "Out of the House of Bondage" on Ta-Nehisi Coates' List of Essential Books on the Civil War. »
James Nealy, Thomas Prendergast, and Bill Sharman, all PhD candidates in modern European history, have received competetive fellowships to conduct dissertation research abroad during the 2017-2018 academic year. James is the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship. In 2018, he will spend nine months in the Russian Federation conducting research for his dissertation project. His work focuses on the social and intellectual history of the… read more about PhD Candidates in Modern European History Receive Competitive Dissertation Research Fellowships »
Prof. John Martin writes, "Martin Luther - lessons and legacy in the age of social media", in The Hill read more about John Martin writes op-ed in The Hill »